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I owned the Logitech Google TV which I bought for about $300 early in its lifespan. After about a year they shipped some really bad updates to it that made it s

I owned the Logitech Google TV which I bought for about $300 early in its lifespan. After about a year they shipped some really bad updates to it that made it so slow that it was essentially unuseable and removed several key features, and then never shipped another update to it again. Logitech and Google both lost interest in it and after not long all of the apps like Netflix and even Google's own Youtube stopped working because of changes to the underlying services. Will this be different? I doubt it. I'm not putting more money into Google hardware to find out that they'll break it and then lose interest. Meanwhile my second gen Apple TV is working great.

lern_too_spel 6y ago
As far as I understand, a second generation Apple TV can't even play Youtube videos.
- dvtrn 6y ago
  I thought that it didn't play certain resolution YouTube, as even the newer generations only just got 4k support for due to codec issues?
  - lern_too_spel 6y ago
    No, YouTube does not work at all on the second generation Apple TV since 2015.
- niklasrde 6y ago
  While (I think) it has rudimentary YouTube support, it does not have an AppStore, or any sort of “ecosystem” around it that would need as much maintenance as an Android device or the APLE TVs running fully fledged tvOS these days, so I don’t think it’s an entirely fair comparison. In the UK it doesn’t have iPlayer, which is probably the most popular VoD app after YouTube.
pier25 6y ago
My Nvidia Shield TV from 2015 is still doing great
- tracker1 6y ago
  likewise... been exceedingly happy with mine... though I'm on my third remote, went with a non-nvidia one this time.
  - benologist 6y ago
    Same. This recharger + 4 battery set has been invaluable with my remote. https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Charger-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B0837FX6L5/ https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Charger-Rechargeable-...
    - comeonseriously 6y ago
      WHAT!!!!???? I did not know this existed! Thank you.
  - thurn 6y ago
    I prefer the remote control app instead, why find a remote when it can just be on your phone, y'know?
    - LeoPanthera 6y ago
      Because I can't feel the buttons with my thumb and have to look down, unlock my phone, switch to the right app, and then tap. It's a horrible experience.
    - iainmerrick 6y ago
      Your phone is fine until you want to pause the movie to answer the door, but it takes tens of seconds just to reconnect to the TV dongle.
      - 6y ago
roneythomas6 6y ago
My Chromecast from 2013 still works.
- chubot 6y ago
  I bought two of them and loved them for a couple years, at least for the content it opened up. However casting was unreliable. I never figured it out but I remember posting on HN about it years ago and other people had the same complaint. Then the YouTube app on my android phone would hang or crash. My Android phone kinda rotted after 4 years or so. I had a dedicated one for chromecast. Now I just use a wireless keyboard and an Ubuntu box connected to the TV. Works quite well, I can get all the apps and content I want through the browser.
  - heavyset_go 6y ago
    Are you able to do Netflix in HD?
    - chubot 6y ago
      Yes, although the frame rate really sucks. I think that is a separate issue though. (You really notice it on action scenes) I don't see why there would be any problem with Netflix in HD in the browser on Ubuntu ? This PC is also from 2012 or so, so I think I should upgrade and maybe the frame rate will improve... I haven't isolated the issue. It's fine for most shows. But I suspect Netflix encoding quality also sucks, because most people don't care as much as I do, so I haven't debugged it.
      - heavyset_go 6y ago
        > I don't see why there would be any problem with Netflix in HD in the browser on Ubuntu ? Because there isn't a browser released on Linux that has the right DRM capabilities to run Netflix's DRM, and thus Netflix on Linux is limited to less-than-HD, hence why I asked if you were able to get it working.
yepthatsreality 6y ago
My Dell laptop still works great.
andoriyu 6y ago
Remember that Android TV and Google TV (the original one) are completely different products. Reason Shield TV is still doing great is because they didn't cut any corners and future proofed in a way no one expected it from nvidia. It's great. It complely replaced my 6700K + GTX 1080 powered HTPC because streaming games from my PC to shield was easier than using windows from 10 ft away. I was a little worried that it stops getting updates, but now I just have no reason to upgrade it because it's getting all the updates and performing great. I got the new dongle tho because it cost as much as new remote for shield... Only weak points of 2015 shield to me: game pad was trash, remote control was large and yet easy to lose and bend.
m-p-3 6y ago
I'd blame Logitech in that case, because my 1st gen Chromecast is still going strong to this day.
- ketralnis 6y ago
  The Google TV predates the Chromecast by about a year. It's probably why Google lost interest in it. That's my point: Google's product ADHD will happily drop your chromecast too, especially with the launch of this new Google TV product.
kevstev 6y ago
I hear you. Google nerfed my Nest Hello last year without explanation, while letting my other Nest products pretty much die on the vine, even if I want to pay $X/month to enable my multiple $150+ cameras to be useful. There is just so much wasted potential there. We have a "legit" security system that my wife wants to turn on expensive $50/month monitoring on, and I have been fending her off saying look we have all these motion detectors and cameras in the house, Google will pull this all together and do it 10x better, but it seems that day is never coming.

lern_too_spel 6y ago

As far as I understand, a second generation Apple TV can't even play Youtube videos.

dvtrn 6y ago
I thought that it didn't play certain resolution YouTube, as even the newer generations only just got 4k support for due to codec issues?
- lern_too_spel 6y ago
  No, YouTube does not work at all on the second generation Apple TV since 2015.
niklasrde 6y ago
While (I think) it has rudimentary YouTube support, it does not have an AppStore, or any sort of “ecosystem” around it that would need as much maintenance as an Android device or the APLE TVs running fully fledged tvOS these days, so I don’t think it’s an entirely fair comparison. In the UK it doesn’t have iPlayer, which is probably the most popular VoD app after YouTube.

pier25 6y ago

My Nvidia Shield TV from 2015 is still doing great

tracker1 6y ago
likewise... been exceedingly happy with mine... though I'm on my third remote, went with a non-nvidia one this time.
- benologist 6y ago
  Same. This recharger + 4 battery set has been invaluable with my remote. https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Charger-Rechargeable-Batteries/dp/B0837FX6L5/ https://www.amazon.com/Lithium-Battery-Charger-Rechargeable-...
  - comeonseriously 6y ago
    WHAT!!!!???? I did not know this existed! Thank you.
- thurn 6y ago
  I prefer the remote control app instead, why find a remote when it can just be on your phone, y'know?
  - LeoPanthera 6y ago
    Because I can't feel the buttons with my thumb and have to look down, unlock my phone, switch to the right app, and then tap. It's a horrible experience.
  - iainmerrick 6y ago
    Your phone is fine until you want to pause the movie to answer the door, but it takes tens of seconds just to reconnect to the TV dongle.
    - 6y ago

roneythomas6 6y ago

My Chromecast from 2013 still works.

chubot 6y ago
I bought two of them and loved them for a couple years, at least for the content it opened up. However casting was unreliable. I never figured it out but I remember posting on HN about it years ago and other people had the same complaint. Then the YouTube app on my android phone would hang or crash. My Android phone kinda rotted after 4 years or so. I had a dedicated one for chromecast. Now I just use a wireless keyboard and an Ubuntu box connected to the TV. Works quite well, I can get all the apps and content I want through the browser.
- heavyset_go 6y ago
  Are you able to do Netflix in HD?
  - chubot 6y ago
    Yes, although the frame rate really sucks. I think that is a separate issue though. (You really notice it on action scenes) I don't see why there would be any problem with Netflix in HD in the browser on Ubuntu ? This PC is also from 2012 or so, so I think I should upgrade and maybe the frame rate will improve... I haven't isolated the issue. It's fine for most shows. But I suspect Netflix encoding quality also sucks, because most people don't care as much as I do, so I haven't debugged it.
    - heavyset_go 6y ago
      > I don't see why there would be any problem with Netflix in HD in the browser on Ubuntu ? Because there isn't a browser released on Linux that has the right DRM capabilities to run Netflix's DRM, and thus Netflix on Linux is limited to less-than-HD, hence why I asked if you were able to get it working.

yepthatsreality 6y ago

My Dell laptop still works great.

andoriyu 6y ago

Remember that Android TV and Google TV (the original one) are completely different products. Reason Shield TV is still doing great is because they didn't cut any corners and future proofed in a way no one expected it from nvidia. It's great. It complely replaced my 6700K + GTX 1080 powered HTPC because streaming games from my PC to shield was easier than using windows from 10 ft away. I was a little worried that it stops getting updates, but now I just have no reason to upgrade it because it's getting all the updates and performing great. I got the new dongle tho because it cost as much as new remote for shield... Only weak points of 2015 shield to me: game pad was trash, remote control was large and yet easy to lose and bend.

m-p-3 6y ago

I'd blame Logitech in that case, because my 1st gen Chromecast is still going strong to this day.

ketralnis 6y ago
The Google TV predates the Chromecast by about a year. It's probably why Google lost interest in it. That's my point: Google's product ADHD will happily drop your chromecast too, especially with the launch of this new Google TV product.

kevstev 6y ago

I hear you. Google nerfed my Nest Hello last year without explanation, while letting my other Nest products pretty much die on the vine, even if I want to pay $X/month to enable my multiple $150+ cameras to be useful. There is just so much wasted potential there. We have a "legit" security system that my wife wants to turn on expensive $50/month monitoring on, and I have been fending her off saying look we have all these motion detectors and cameras in the house, Google will pull this all together and do it 10x better, but it seems that day is never coming.